Career Choices - PC and CPD
I am looking for information about re-employment?
What are the implications of continuing to hold my Practising Certificate - Scottish Legal Complaints Commission?
What are the implications of continuing to hold my Practising Certificate - CPD?
I am finding it hard to cope with the additional stress caused redundancy..
What else is the Society doing about the downturn?
What other jobs can I do with a law degree?
I am looking for information about re-employment?
The Society has a new recruitment website through which most legal jobs are advertised. We're working to ensure that as many jobs as possible are filtered through here, to give people a single search portal.
We'd also encourage you to speak to the recruitment agencies that advertise on that site and in the Journal, as they may be aware of opportunities with their clients.
Tips for re-employment
1. Re-evaluate – even in tough economic conditions, it’s worth taking time to consider what you want to do. Do you want to continue with you current specialism or is this the time to change your focus on another area of the law or even pursue a career outwith the legal profession.
2. Be positive, proactive and organised – don’t wait for the job to come to you. Have a plan and keep developing it.
3. Get your CV up to date – career advisors, recruitment firms and HR departments can all provide advice on CV writing and on-line application forms. The Society is developing a course on ‘CV writing and Interview skills’. Details will be available in the ebulletin in due course.
4. Think ‘transferable skills’ - we see many CVs from lawyers that concentrate on areas of practice and levels of legal expertise, these are only one element of a job. Think about your organisational, administrative, project management, communication, and other ‘generic’ skills, and make sure you sell these.
5. Stay up-to-date - you may want to consider simple things such as ensuring you read relevant article in The Journal and other online law publications, to demonstrate that you are continuing to engage in CPD (more details below). More creative ideas include perhaps volunteering with a charity/not for profit to keep workplace and even legal skills (perhaps with an advice service) up to date.
6. Network – use your contacts. Get out and about and meet people.
7. Apply, apply, apply – even if it’s not exactly what you want to do, it’s worth applying. Getting offered a job, even if you don’t accept it is always a good morale boost. At worst, it’s good practice.
8. Compromise – it’s a buyer’s market so be prepared to compromise. You may not get the perfect job in terms of what you want to do, where you want to do it and even how much you get paid but it will provide a better platform if you decide to move again.
Who else can help with expert advice about re-employment options?
Careers Scotland is the national advice agency for careers. Their website contains a range of helpful information, from opportunities to retrain or update skills through to how to brush up your CV. A specific section deals with redundancy, and there is advice and guidance from professionals on how to help yourself and what other support may be available. Remember, your legal skills could be relevant in a whole range of jobs, for example, ‘contracts officers’ in large companies. Use this sight to consider how you could best utilise your skills, even if you can’t find a solicitor post immediately - www.careers-scotland.org.uk
Learn Direct is another national agency that may be able to assist you, in a competitive market transferable skills will be key. They can direct you to short courses on IT, management, basic accounts skills, and other areas that may make you more marketable. They can also help you with funding options, including Independent Learning Accounts, which may cover some costs if redundancy has taken you below the annual income threshold - www.learndirectscotland.com
JobCentrePlus covers the whole of the UK, many people might not think of it as a place for professional jobs, but when we last checked (Jan 28th 09 over 100 solicitor jobs were advertised) www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
‘Retraining’: Universities, Colleges and Commercial training providers – Scotland does not have specific ‘retraining’ courses for solicitors, but you may wish to consider what practical courses may be available. For example, paralegal courses may be ideal to re-familiarise yourself with the practical aspects of an area of law. Central Law Training (www.clt-scotland.co.uk) and Rewards (www.rewards-trc.co.uk) for example offer distance learning courses in Employment, Family, and Debt recovery, all areas of law where we are seeing continued recruitment demand. Scotland’s Colleges also offer courses that may be relevant, and have been used in the past by people returning to work after a period out. Our universities may have relevant courses, for example, a post graduate certificate in employment law. A useful list of all colleges and universities can be found here - www.ukwebstart.com/scotland-colleges.html.
You may also want to consider looking at the Open University page ‘Outsmart the Recession’ pages which are packed with advice on what to do if you are out of work, and even contains free learning resources allowing you to improve your skills in a range of areas to make you more attractive to potential employers - http://www.open.ac.uk/recession
What are the implications of continuing to hold my Practising Certificate - Scottish Legal Complaints Commission?
It is important you consider the implications of the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC). If you have a PC on 30th June, then you will be personally liable for payment of the SLCC levy. To avoid being liable for payment for this yourself then you would need to surrender your PC prior to 30th June.
We appreciate this presents an issue. If you are looking for work in the period up to the 30th June you will want to keep your PC, as it has been paid for and means you can say that you have a current certificate. However, if you have not surrendered by the 30th you will hit the legal liability date. The Levy Working Party has looked sympathetically on unemployed cases for Year One but that means in effect the rest of the profession is paying, so this year there may be fewer exceptions allowed for those with a PC on the liability date who later try to claim exemption.
If you find employment, the new firm is likely to pay for the new PC and SLCC levy you would need to practice.
The Society would encourage you to set a diary reminder for this key date, and consider your situation nearer the time, but leaving the opportunity to take action if you need to.
What are the implications of continuing to hold my Practising Certificate - CPD?
Full details of the CPD scheme
For the avoidance of doubt, where the guidelines refer to weeks these are working weeks of 35 hours.
CPD applies only to those holding Practising Certificates but is related to the number of hours worked in the year although a minimum number of CPD hours are usually applied. The hours are required whether in employment of not, however, if you are unable to comply in any year temporary relief may be obtained in the form of an extension of time by contacting to George Samson at the Society.
If you wish to discuss any specific point, simply telephone George Samson on 0131 476 8136 or Shirley Bannister on 0131 476 8142 and we will be happy to help.
The Update team will be able to help you with ideas of how to stay up to date at a reasonable cost, including CPD by DVD and Online Learning - You may also want to stay in touch with your local Faculty, who often provide low cost CPD or provide free events, often with the Society presenting on current topics (for example, the current ABS debate and changes to the complaints system).
I am finding it hard to cope with the additional stress caused redundancy..
There is no doubt that dealing with this situation can bring additional stress, and we know that solicitors often leave it too long to speak to someone else about these issues, when in fact the support of family, peers, and professional help can be invaluable in supporting people.
Lawcare is totally independent of the Society, although we support its costs. It is an advisory and support service to help lawyers, their staff and their immediate families to deal with health problems such as stress, depression and addiction, and related emotional difficulties. There is a free helpline (0800 279 6869) and information and workbooks available on their website.
What else is the Society doing about the downturn?
1) There is a Professional Support page bringing together helpful information for individuals and firms.
2) We're communicating regularly with local faculty deans, to make sure we have an understanding of the varying impact in different regions.
3) The Society is monitoring redundancies on a day by day basis, looking at solicitors, paralegals, and support staff (recording incoming data + proactive survey of firm’s intentions over next six months)
4) We have been in talks with both the Scottish and Westminster Governments about the impact of the downturn on law firms and what can be done to address this
5) We have been working to open up other job opportunities and have, for example, been successful in working with two public sector agencies to take on additional trainees who have lost their training contracts because of the downturn
6) The recent High Street Conference and a Business Toolkit supported firms in addressing issues coming from the downturn - more events are planned and it is worth making sure the Society have an up to date personal e-mail address so that you receive our monthly e-bulletin. This can be done through e-mailing our Records team, or by calling 0131 226 7411.
What other jobs can I do with a law degree?
All members of the Law Society of Scotland have the benefit of LawCare which provide counselling and support. They have information on their Website detailing 101 jobs you can do with a Law degree.
